I have great success with placing a 57 parallel with the top skin, pointing at the very top edge of the rim, half of the capsule peeking over the rim and half at the side of the rim and as close as possible to the rim, as close as 1cm or so away, just as long as they dont connect druing play. This gives me a big snare sound, lots of body yet still capturing plenty of snap.

If I trust the drummer AND if I know he has understood what will happen to him should he damage the mic, I will first try an MD-441 on snare duty.

What seems to have been ignored in this discussion is how much the character of each individual snare (and it's surrounds) will influence your choice of mic...............I guess my point is that there probably isn't one specific mic that is guaranteed to work first time, every time.

Ausrock wrote:What seems to have been ignored in this discussion is how much the character of each individual snare (and it's surrounds) will influence your choice of mic...............I guess my point is that there probably isn't one specific mic that is guaranteed to work first time, every time.

During the Adelaide Fringe Festival, I had to do a very quick change between acts and all I had time to do for drums was a DM90 in the kick and a single SM57 overhead, pointing directly down at the kit from about 1 metre above. The drummers mates were at the show and they all told him what a great drum sound he had, so much so that, even though I had more time the next night, he insisted on that simple setup again. It did sound good, sometimes simple really is best.

Bob Charman - Stockport Sound, SAThe Road Goes On Forever and the Party Never Ends..........

My old studio boss from the early 90's used to mic everything on the kit with 57's (except the kick). We had lots of choices available 67's, 47's, 87's, 451's, 414's, Schoeps, 421's, 441's, etc, etc....but no it was Sm57's all round + D12 on kick.

GlennS wrote:DPA 4011 is classy on snare, but I love it most when it's next to a 57.If you have an Oktava MK219 try it. It's the mic I use most on top now.If I do use a second mic, which is not all that often these days, it's usually an Oktava MC012 either on the bottom or on the hole on the side of the snare.

GlennS wrote:I used 414 on snare on a live jazz album once. I just listened to it again the other day & it still sounds pretty good to me.

GlennS wrote:

Ausrock wrote:What seems to have been ignored in this discussion is how much the character of each individual snare (and it's surrounds) will influence your choice of mic...

GlennS wrote:DPA 4011 is classy on snare, but I love it most when it's next to a 57.If you have an Oktava MK219 try it. It's the mic I use most on top now.If I do use a second mic, which is not all that often these days, it's usually an Oktava MC012 either on the bottom or on the hole on the side of the snare.

GlennS wrote:I used 414 on snare on a live jazz album once. I just listened to it again the other day & it still sounds pretty good to me.

GlennS wrote:

Ausrock wrote:What seems to have been ignored in this discussion is how much the character of each individual snare (and it's surrounds) will influence your choice of mic...

Ha! I never considered the character of the snare or it's surrounds when I chose those mics, only the character of the recording. Most times I just use my MK219. I'm always happy to try something new though. A little while ago I tried a Neumann KM120 (fig 8) to see how much hihat & rack tom bleed could be minimised using the nulls. As it turns out it was less than I thought it would, but still a very nice open sound not requiring much eq, if any.

I'm curious now though. How much does the character of the snare influence YOUR choice of mic & why?

Sometimes when the snare has a very deep shell and low tuned I will use a KM84i or a 451EB. Other times if someone uses a thin piccolo (yuk!) then I will reach for a mic that has a bigger low end.But on the average size snare a 201 always works for me, nice open top end - or sometimes a 57.

Ausrock wrote:What seems to have been ignored in this discussion is how much the character of each individual snare (and it's surrounds) will influence your choice of mic

Glenn...there are so many variables I think my brain would explode.I was thinking more along the lines of different snare characteristics such as - boxy or dampened sound, bright open marching sound, thin poxy piccolo (couldn't agree more Chris), metal?, wooden? and so on. If we change snares for different songs then it's possible the mic may need changing as well.Then there's the surrounds..... Sometimes I'll record various combinations of kit from 2 piece to 10 piece and anywhere in between. This will determine where I can get away with placing the mic. For example.. if it's a limited kit size with only floor, kick, snare then I'd have the luxury of pulling the mic off the snare by a few inches. I prefer this sound and whenever it's possible to be less direct with the snare sound I will.... but as soon as you add rack toms, hihats more crashes etc the spill will increase and then its back to close micing. It depends what the kit is made up of, type of snare, the weight at which the drummer hits, the room it's in etcetc will ultimately determine what mic gets the duties.

Ben M wrote:My old studio boss from the early 90's used to mic everything on the kit with 57's (except the kick). We had lots of choices available 67's, 47's, 87's, 451's, 414's, Schoeps, 421's, 441's, etc, etc....but no it was Sm57's all round + D12 on kick.

90% of the time I go with my G5790 (the custom bent sm57). My I5 usually lives on small toms but I always go back to the 57 whenever I try it on snare. I also have the 201 which does get a go occasionally, it seems fuller than the 57 but not as aggressive.

Looking forward to trying the 414 on my next session, hadn't really thought of it as an option but seeing as I've been using my pair less on overheads lately, I'll give it a go.

... after failing to get a great sound (that's a great sound) from my brass snare using a 57 I'm now trying the D11 that normally lives in the BD. And woe betide the 57 that just got relegated to BD duties - we shall see what we shall hear

Last time I recorded drums I had a 57 and the Josephson on top. In the mix I went for the Josephson every time. It felt far more focused, with less spill, tighter and more body, more... "whack". It would be my preference every time after that, but a 57 still does the job and then I can use it to trigger layer after layer of samples later on.